


And you leave him

by Polyhexian



Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One), Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Implied/Referenced Suicide, POV Second Person, Set after silent light
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-08-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:20:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25858075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Polyhexian/pseuds/Polyhexian
Summary: "Whirl," you say, firmly, and wait until he looks up at you, "Why are you here?"
Relationships: Cyclonus & Whirl (Transformers)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 33





	And you leave him

The doors open before you're close enough to activate the motion sensors, so you know to pause, and wait while Velocity rushes out, casting her head side to side in search. She brightens when she sees you, looking relieved.

"Oh, Cyclonus, you're here! Good, good, listen- just keep an eye on him, I'll be back in-" Velocity paused, optics darting back into the medibay for a moment, "Five minutes, tops. I promise I'll be as quick as I can, just- watch him, right?"

With that, she hurries away, on whatever errand is so important to her. You enter the medibay and the doors shut behind you. 

Whirl looks up and blinks at you, slowly, before he turns away again, sitting with his legs pulled up against his chest around his cockpit, arms folded on his knees, staring into some kind of glass tube labeled _quarantine_. He's got a waterfall of wires running out of his cockpit and over the berth into machinery, lights and displays that mean little to you.

You cross the room and inspect the quarantine jar. Something is floating in it- insects, maybe, something alive, anyway. 

"'Sup," Whirl says, eventually.

"Velocity asked me to keep an eye on you while she's out of the medibay," you answer, honestly and clinically. He nods. 

"Did you and panic legs get to be pod buddies?" Whirl's optic is still on the jar and not on you.

"No," you say, more amused than annoyed, which surprises you, "Only neighbors."

"That's nice," he says, "Got to see each other when y'all woke up, I bet."

"Yes," you answer, "Where were you assigned?" 

"Off the beaten path," Whirl murmurs, "Out of the way."

"Hm."

He reaches out a claw toward the jar and runs it gently over the surface. Within the bubbling liquid, whatever creatures are floating there follow his trace, half forming the shape of a claw mimicking the movement from inside. Scraplets, then, it would seem. 

"He doin' alright?" Whirl asks, "Teeg, I mean."

"He's fine," you tell him, "We had no issues with hypersleep." You pause a moment and wait for him to follow up, but he doesn't. "And you?" 

"Fine," he says, as he reaches the bottom of the glass and pulls away. Within, the claw lingers, before it dissolves. 

"Then why are you in the medibay?" you ask, "Why does Velocity not feel comfortable leaving you by yourself?" 

"She's just getting to know me," Whirl says, as if that makes any sense, "It's nothing." 

"Did you have issues with hypersleep?" you press. 

"No."

"Were you injured?" 

"I need a new windshield," he leans back a bit, looking at his open cockpit with an uncharacteristically sad optic. 

"That's hardly an injury," you frown, "Why the wires? Are you ill? Whirl," you say, firmly, and wait until he looks up at you, "Why are you _here?_ "

Whirl stares at you, a long moment where you start to wonder if he's going to reply at all, before he tilts his optic forward, just so.

"You know why," he says, his voice soft like you've never heard it before.

"I do?" you ask, blinking.

"Of course you do." His shoulders sink, spine straightening and optic dimming. You open your mouth to respond when the medibay doors cut you off.

"I'm back!" Velocity announces, carrying some machine they you would guess came from Brainstorm's lab, "thank you so much, Cyclonus!" 

"It's no problem," you answer, coolly, and turn back to Whirl, but he's not looking at you anymore. He's returned his attention to the jar of scraplets, running his claw down the length again while they mimic him. 

"I've got it from here!" Velocity assures you, dropping her spoils onto one of the tables, "You're free to go!" 

"Whirl?" you ask him, uncertain, lingering. 

"You're free to go, Cyc," he says, succinctly, and he doesn't sound like he wants you here anymore. You never understand Whirl. You can never figure out what he wants from you, no matter how much you wish you could. 

You turn toward the doors, and pause for a moment to look back, _let me know when you're free_ lingering on your tongue, but you let it die there. The doors open, and you leave him.


End file.
